June 2005

Ethical Issues in Program Design and Research
Rwanda study tackles ethical dilemmas

The project team working on the youth-headed household intervention study in Rwanda very seriously considered the ethical issues involved in research and program development for vulnerable youth. A critical component was consulting with youth and community members on how best to conduct the research and design the program.

Selection of Mentors

As a result of community consultation, a very careful selection and monitoring process for mentors has been instituted. As part of the process, children recommend adults they trust to enter the pool of applicants, since they often already know who is helpful and who is exploitive. Then, WVR screens and interviews each applicant.

Based on recommendations from youth and adults, the mentors are not paid. By offering payment, they felt the program would attract people with the wrong motives. Instead, the volunteers are offered incentives, including recognition by the community for their efforts.

To monitor the mentoring process, WVR schedules visits to the household both with and without the mentor present. Youth can refuse their mentor at any time without giving a reason.

Conducting the Research

To ensure good ethical practice in all phases of conducting the research, the team has emphasized the following:

Privacy – Interviews with the youth heading the household are as private as possible—only siblings under age two can be present.

Confidentiality – The information obtained in interviews is not shared with WVR, except to ensure the respondents’ safety, and respondents are fully informed of this.

Informed consent – Respondents are fully informed that they can refuse to participate without any repercussions, including losing WVR services. As the youth participating in the program are living without adult care, the team felt they are able to give consent and that it is important for them to participate in decisions that affect their lives, such as taking part in the research.

Interviewer training – Interviewers have been extensively trained on sensitive and supportive interviewing techniques, including assuring youth they do not have to answer questions that upset them and they can terminate the interview at any time, and ending the interview themselves if youth are distraught. During training, the interviewers role played how to deal with various types of distress they might encounter in the field. They were also supervised in the field and given regular debriefing and support sessions to address their own emotions as a result of hearing sad stories from respondents.

Referral network – The project team anticipated the possibility of uncovering serious emotional distress, poverty, or other crises during the interview process, and set up a referral system for children and youth at risk prior to the start of the research. For example, households with serious problems related to basic needs (lacking adequate shelter, food, or with serious health needs) were referred to WVR for follow-up with the permission of the respondent. In cases of severe emotional distress, WVR linked those youth with mental health services previously identified in the community.

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© 2005 The Population Council, Inc.

See Also

• Frontiers in Reproductive Health – Youth

• Population Council – Gender, Family and Development Program

• Population Council – Infants and Children

• Population Council – Journals and Newsletters

• Population Council – Orphans and Vulnerable Children

• Population Council – Youth

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This page updated 18 January 2006

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